Tired of scraping the payment together to pay your car insurance bill each month? You are no different than millions of other consumers. Consumers have many auto insurance companies to insure vehicles with, and though it is a good thing to be able to choose, having more insurance companies makes it harder to compare company pricing.
The purpose of this post is to help you learn how to get online quotes and some tips to save money. If you have car insurance now, you should be able to lower your premiums substantially using these techniques. Louisiana drivers just need to learn the tricks to shop on the web.
Car Insurance Prices in Shreveport
All the larger car insurance companies provide coverage price quotes on the web. The process doesn’t take much effort as you simply type in the coverage amounts you desire as detailed in the form. When the form is submitted, their system will order credit information and your driving record and generates pricing information. Quoting online makes comparing rates easy, but the time required to go to a lot of sites and fill out multiple forms gets old quite quickly. But it’s very important to have as many quotes as possible in order to get a lower rate.
The quickest way to compare car insurance pricing is to use a quote form to return rates from a bunch of companies at once. This type of form saves time, requires much less work on your part, and makes online shopping much more enjoyable. Immediately after you send the form, your coverage is rated and you are able to buy any one of the resulting price quotes.
If the quotes result in lower rates, you can click and sign and buy the policy. The whole process takes less than 15 minutes and may result in a nice savings.
If you want to find out what other companies charge, click here to open in new window and fill out the form. If you currently have coverage, we recommend you duplicate exactly as shown on your declarations page. This makes sure you will be getting rate quotes using the same coverage and limits.
Do you qualify for discounts?
Car insurance can cost a lot, but you may find discounts to reduce the price significantly. Some discounts apply automatically at the time of quoting, but less common discounts must be requested specifically prior to getting the savings. If they aren’t giving you every credit available, you’re just leaving money on the table.
- Lower Rates for Military – Having a deployed family member could mean lower rates.
- More Vehicles More Savings – Buying coverage for multiple cars or trucks with the same company may reduce the rate for each vehicle.
- Discount for Swiching Early – Some companies give discounts for switching to them before your current policy expires. The savings is around 10%.
- Seat Belts Save – Requiring all passengers to use their safety belts can save up to 15% on the medical payments or PIP coverage costs.
- Passive Restraints and Air Bags – Vehicles with factory air bags may earn rate discounts up to 30%.
- Braking Control Discount – Anti-lock brake equipped vehicles are safer to drive and therefore earn up to a 10% discount.
- Auto/Home Discount – When you have multiple policies with one company you may earn at least 10% off all policies.
- Accident Free – Good drivers with no accidents can save substantially when compared with bad drivers.
- Safety Course Discount – Taking a driver safety course could possibly earn you a 5% discount if you qualify.
Drivers should understand that most of the big mark downs will not be given to the entire policy premium. Most only reduce the cost of specific coverages such as collision or personal injury protection. Just because you may think all the discounts add up to a free policy, you’re out of luck. But all discounts will reduce the amount you have to pay.
To see a list of companies with the best car insurance discounts in Shreveport, click here to view.
Don’t assume everyone needs the same coverage
When buying the right insurance coverage, there really is no “best” method to buy coverage. Everyone’s situation is unique so this has to be addressed. Here are some questions about coverages that might help in determining if your insurance needs would benefit from professional advice.
- Who is covered when they drive my vehicle?
- Do I really need UM/UIM coverage?
- Does my policy cover my teen driver if they drive my company car?
- Am I getting all the discounts available?
- How much liability coverage do I need in Louisiana?
- Does my vehicle need full coverage?
- Does my vehicle qualify for pleasure use?
- When should I drop full coverage on my vehicle?
If you don’t know the answers to these questions but one or more may apply to you, you may need to chat with a licensed insurance agent. If you don’t have a local agent, simply complete this short form or you can go here for a list of companies in your area. It only takes a few minutes and can help protect your family.
Tips to Get Lower Shreveport Rates
It’s important that you understand the different types of things that come into play when calculating the rates you pay for car insurance. Knowing what influences your rates helps enable you to make changes that will entitle you to much lower annual insurance costs.
The list below includes some of the factors that factor into prices.
- A clean driving record saves money – Your driving record impacts your car insurance rates tremendously. Even a single speeding ticket may increase your cost twenty percent or more. Drivers with clean records get better rates than bad drivers. Drivers who get serious violations such as hit and run, DWI or reckless driving convictions may be required to submit a SR-22 form with their state DMV in order to continue driving.
- Marriage brings a discount – Getting married helps lower the price on your policy. Marriage is viewed as being more responsible and it’s proven that married drivers get in fewer accidents.
- Safer occupants lowers premiums – Vehicles with good safety scores are cheaper to insure. Safe vehicles protect occupants better and any reduction in injury severity translates into fewer and smaller insurance claims and more competitive rates for policyholders.
- Your age impacts your rates – Mature drivers are viewed as being more responsible, tend to cause fewer accidents and receive fewer citations. Teen drivers are statistically proven to be more careless in a vehicle and because of this, their car insurance rates are much higher.
Summing up your car insurance search
Affordable car insurance can be found on the web as well as from independent agents in Shreveport, so you should compare both to have the best selection. Some insurance companies don’t offer online price quotes and usually these regional insurance providers provide coverage only through local independent agents.
When trying to cut insurance costs, never skimp on critical coverages to save a buck or two. In many instances, an insured cut liability limits or collision coverage to discover at claim time that the savings was not a smart move. Your aim should be to buy a smart amount of coverage at a price you can afford.
Additional car insurance information is available on the website for the Louisiana Department of Insurance found here. Visitors are able to download brochures, find out industry alerts, read state legal mandates and laws, and file complaints about a company.